


Before we wake

by PrideEqualsVengeance



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, DreamSMP - Freeform, Gen, I love techno and this arc makes my heart hurt, Kinda, but Tommy still considereds Phil and Techno family, post second festival, pre battle, sad tommyinnit, sbi is falling apart, they aren't related biologically, this idea has been in my head all night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28598268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrideEqualsVengeance/pseuds/PrideEqualsVengeance
Summary: Tommy doesn't regret choosing Tubbo, but before the battle, there is one more thing he has to do.
Relationships: Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 225





	Before we wake

**Author's Note:**

> I am sad, I knew there was no happy ending for this arc but still hits right in the stomach. Anyways this isn't great but I had fun writing it

Tommy had imagined his return to L’manburg more times than he could count. In the early days it was the only thing that kept him alive in through the monotonous routine of exile. The longer he was trapped in Logstedshire, the more Dream visited, the less he let himself imagine it, but when he did Tommy had had a very clear image of what it would be like.

It would be Tubbo who would come and get him, to bring him home. It would start quiet but this was his Tubbo. Eventually the silence would have to break; Tubbo would apologize in that rambiling way of his and then there would be silence a little longer and then Tommy would say something stupid and just like that it would be ok again. Niki, and Philza, and all the people he had so desperately wanted to see again would be waiting just at the border and everything would be ok and happy and maybe even peaceful just for a while. Even when he joined Techno there was some part of him that still thought that that dream would come true; he would get his disc and he would be done and all the things he would have to do to get it could be forgotten. Sometimes Tommy thinks he is just as naïve as Wilbur always told him he was.  
He was back in L’manburg now, and the image of his joyous return had shattered. Scattered around the city were small anxious groups of people he loved, people he had fought beside and against time and again, yet here he was sitting alone on his bench. Niki hated him, Ranboo was treated as a traitor for helping him, and the things he had said to Tubbo….. the things he had said to Tubbo made Tommy feel like he should be exiled all over again. He was so stupid; the discs were his history, his most sacred connection to the SMP, but what did the SMP matter without Tubbo?

He knew that they would have to talk before the battle, the knowledge that they may not have the chance after was too pressing for them to ignore but he had something else he had to do first. Tommy sighed as he stood, glancing at the empty music box, before heading down into L’manburg proper and towards the border. He saw the way his allies glanced at him as he made his way through the city; there was suspicion in their eyes. Half of them weren’t convinced that he hadn’t blown up the community house and even those who didn’t think he had had their own reasons to mistrust him. As he came to the border, he checked his bag to make sure he had what he needed, his journey was a long one.

“Tommy,” Tommy turned to see Tubbo standing behind him; tense in a way that seemed to defy Tubbo’s entire personality “Where are you going so late? We all need to rest before….whatever happens tomorrow”

“I’ll be back by morning Tubbo, I just have some loose ends I need to tie up,” Tommy didn’t think any of them would be sleeping much either way.

“Just…be careful, yeah?” Tubbo’s eyes wouldn’t meet his as Tommy glanced back at him. Tommy ached to have their easy friendship back; they way they used to make stupid quips and shove against each other’s shoulders and laugh in the face of danger, but Tommy could barely make himself look at Tubbo either so all he said was;

“Yeah, I’ll be careful,” and he walked away. There was a part of Tommy that wanted to walk to his destination, to breath and think and maybe escape but there was no time for that so he made his way swiftly to the nether portal and stepped through. The heat inside was stifling and it took all his concentration to not fall off the familiar path to the other portal, but as he stepped out of the abrasive heat and into the snowy tundra he started to wish he had fallen into that lava. Instead he just bundled tightly into his coat and started his lonely trek to the little cottage he had called home for all those weeks.

When he arrived, the chimney was smoking but no lights were on; he stripped off what little armor he wore and made his way slowly to the basement doors. He would miss this place, towards the end it had felt so much like home that the idea of never seeing it again devastated him, but he had done what he had to do. Tommy made no effort to conceal his movements as he stepped into the house and he knew he had only a few moments before Techno made his way down, but Tommy made no move to meet him. He just stood staring at the poster on the wall; the picture had all those he once considered his brothers.

“Tommy,” despite the late hour Techno was dressed in full netherite, looking for the world as if he was ready to invade L’manburg tonight, “What do you think you’re doing here?”

“Just thought I would come to say goodbye…and thank you,” Tommy turned back to the poster in front of him, “You gave a home when I lost everything and there is nothing I could do to ever repay that”

“Not betrayin me would have been a pretty good start,” Tommy could almost sense the way Techno tensed and shifted behind him.

“I didn’t betray you,” Techno let out a bitter laugh, “No, listen. I didn’t betray you. I made it clear over and over again that my enemy was Dream, not L’manburg and not Tubbo just like you made it clear that any quarrel I had with Dream was a side project. We were never on the same page and we were never going to be, not while you were on good terms with Dream.”

“How can you be so stupid Tommy? L’manburg isn’t some paradise that deserves to be protected, its just a group of stupid idiots who will keep making the same mistakes again and again until someone puts a stop to it. And you know what Tommy? That’s gonna be me and it could have been you too if you could stop ignoring what is right in front of your face.” Tommy finally turned to look back at Techno.

“You think I don’t know all that? I’m not blind Technoblade, I know L’manburg has fucked up more than a few times but ya know what? You’re a fucking hypocrite” Technoblade looked at Tommy with unflinching eyes “You go on and on about freeing the people from Tyranny, destroying anything that resembles a government, but if you want tyranny take a good long look at who you are working with”

“Dream isn’t some impartial force of chaos; he is the DICTATOR of the ENTIRITY OF THE SMP. It doesn’t matter who is playing king or president HE makes the rules. And so we play rebellion and sell our souls for the slightest glimpse of freedom and the chance to pretend that we get to decide, trying to ignore the fact that one wrong move means that the whole illusion comes shattering down for EVERYONE. You play so high and mighty here in your little cottage where you can do what you want but we don’t all have the right to fuck off to the Arctic and do what ever we want! Dream loves power too much for all of that”

“Did we ever tell you why we started L’manburg? It wasn’t some idea of a noble cause or even a desire for power; we just wanted to sell some fun drugs and Dream said no. And we thought the same thing you did. Why the fuck should we listen to him? We weren’t a government or an army- we were five kids in a camper van and he beat us down until he could get the one thing that would ensure he always had power over us; the discs” Tommy took a breath and gave another sad smile to the poster on the wall.

“He likes his treasure’s, Dream does, collecting things that cement his authority, and you know what Techno? You really have become the Crown Jewel of his collection. So tomorrow summon your withers and fire your cannons and watch those who have loved you fight and die, and know that the lesson you are trying to teach us is not the one we will learn. The only thing that we will learn is that we will never escape the hands of tyranny, not really. And then, after we have buried our dead, we will reject that lesson and rebuild again and again until every last one of us has fallen and there is nothing you can do to stop that” Tommy turned and brushed by Techno to make his way back to the door before looking back at him, “Thank you for coming every single time I have called and if you are ever in any trouble know that I will be there in a heartbeat but I cannot watch you kill the last hope we have” Techno made no move as Tommy made his way out the door but just before it closed Tommy heard Techno speak.

“Tommy just don’t die tomorrow alright?” Tommy closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Don’t ask me to make promises I can’t keep,” and the door closed behind him. As he made his way back through the snow, Tommy heard crunching footsteps come from the front door. He looked up to see the shadowy silhouette of Philza.

“Hey Da- Hey Phil” Tommy whispered quietly. Looking at the man who had been like a father to him for so long he knew there were somethings he would never be able to completely forgive L’manburg for.

“Tommy” Phil stepped fully out of the house “You’ve made your choice then. No turning back.” Tommy couldn’t remember a time when the winged man’s face had been so cold.

“I have and I am so sorry. What they did to you…they had no right to imprison you for refusing to give them Techno’ location. If I had been there…but for all of L’manburg’s failures I know that it is better that living in a world where Dream has won, and no matter who does it, if L’manburg falls Dream wins” Tommy searches Phil’s face for any sign of understanding. Looking up at him on the steps was so reminiscent of that very morning when he had sent them off with a laugh and a promise to come home safe, but now with the dark house behind him and the knowledge that they would go into this battle on opposite side there was only a sick tugging at his heart. He stepped back involuntarily as Phil made his way down the stairs.

"I wish it didn’t have to be like this. Wilbur was right, the L’manburg you fought for isn’t there anymore Tommy. And no matter what Dream is, he is our tool to bring things back to right. But if you can’t accept that just-“ Phil glanced at the small ugly house where he could hear Friend braying “just be safe, I can’t afford to lose another son”

“You and Techno have a bad habit of asking me to lie you” Tommy could feel the tears gathering in his eyes and ran forward to give Phil a last hug. He couldn’t help but sob when he felt Phil gather him in his arms just as tightly. There had never been a place that felt so safe as being encompassed in Phil’s wings. “I love you Dad, and if we win this I will do my best to keep you safe” and with that Tommy stepped away and back into the cold world. He wiped his eyes, glanced at the house once more meeting Techno’s eyes through the window, and then turned and walked away without a backwards glance.

He glanced at his clock, nearly 3am, he only had 12 hours until the battle. He sighed softly before pickax from his bag and setting to work to find ancient debris. If he only had 12 hours left he might as well make himself useful.


End file.
